Sunday, November 7
All Episcopal youth and friends from the diocese are invited to showcase our talents to support our Companion Diocese in Durgapur, North India. Through the Talent Show, the EYC hopes to help provide school supplies, uniforms, education, after-school programs, and good nutrition to children in Durgapur’s hostel and Child Sponsorship Program.
Cost to attend is $5 for youth and adults. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the talent show, but feel free to sit back, relax, and enjoy the event as well! Snacks will be available for purchase and a portion of the proceeds will also go to Durgapur. If you are unable to attend but would like to contribute, please contact Shawna Gilmore (shawna@allsoulscathedral.org, 777-0949).
Bishop Probal Kanto Dutta of Durgapur visited WNC recently, and preached at All Souls on September 12th. He and his wife, Rita Dutta, led the Adult Forum and told us about their work in Durgapur. When Bishop Dutta was installed in 2002, the diocese had been leaderless for some years. He and his staff have accomplished much since then, from programs for children to medical missions to micro-enterprises.
Poverty in Durgapur is dire, according to the Duttas. Their educational programs are aimed particularly at girls, who have few alternatives in the slums. The hope is that through her education a girl will be able to bring her whole family out of poverty. The Duttas proudly told us about three young women who had recently passed their Secondary School Certificate exams; one of them had narrowly escaped a life of sex-trafficking when she entered the hostel.
Our “Companion” relationship dates from 2006, when the two dioceses exchanged exploratory visits. Since then, Bishop Dutta has made regular visits to Western North Carolina, and many clergy, staff, and parishioners have in return visited India. Rev. Brian Cole has been to Durgapur twice, in 2009 preaching at the huge outdoor Thanksgiving service held early each year. At this service Durgapur ordained its first female presbyter. Dean Donatelli will visit in early 2011 and will also preach at the Thanksgiving service.
As Bishop Taylor said during his third trip to Durgapur, in 2010,
We are invited to be companions with one another and with Jesus Christ. We do that as we eat bread together and share this common journey along The Way. The people of Durgapur have done so much in the name of our Lord and frankly I am humbled by their faith and their courage. “Courage” comes from the word “heart.” These Christians have enormous hearts and witnessing what they do enlarges my heart.
I also think it’s the paradox of travel that sometimes you have to go to the other side of the globe to get down to the essentials of our common ministry. It’s about sharing our lives and our hopes and the bread of heaven together. Coming here renews my courage for us to be about our work and reminds me that our work in WNC and the work here in Durgapur are all the Lord’s work. It’s what makes us companions. When the children here have schools, we are enriched. When we feed the hungry and give hope to the weary in our diocese, they are enriched.
If you are interested in learning more about our relationship with Durgapur, you might be interested in reading the following blogs: